44 BULLETIN 1421, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Distribution of capital—The distribution of the capital of the two. 
size groups of farms into land, buildings, machinery, feed and sup- 
plies, and other working capital is shown in Table 22. The chief - 
point to be observed in this comparison is the proportion of the 
capital required for equipment. During the four-year period the 
40-acre farms had averages of 3.5 per cent and 1.6 per cent more of 
the total capital tied up in buildings and working capital, respectively, 
than had the 80-acre farms. In other words a greater proportion of 
the capital of the 80-acre farms was in land that could be used for 
producing crops. 
Net return to capital— A summary of the business of the 40-acre 
and 80-acre farms is presented in Table 23. Attention is epecially 
directed to the fact that during each year of the study, net return 
to the capital of the 80-acre farms was considerably more than 
twice as great as that of the 40-acre farms. The four-year average 
for the former group was $1,341 and for the latter $453. The per- 
centage return to the capital of the 80-acre group was also much 
greater than that returned to the capital of the 40-acre group. 
When measured by these tokens, therefore, size of farm appears to 
have considerable influence on the efficiency with which farms can 
be organized and operated. Some of the reasons appear later. 
TABLE 23.—Business summary for £40-acre and 80-acre farms, 1919-1922 
40-acre farms 80-acre farms 
Item So eae 
| 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1919 | 1920 | i921 | 1922 
| 
Farms studied, number______-______- 51 |} 53 | 52 | 14 | 38 37 33 16 
| SS ee ee ' 
Dollars | Dollars | Dollars \Doliars | Dollars Dollars | Dollars Dollars 
Output per farm_______.___-.-.------|__3, 277 |_ 2, 749 |_2,081 | 2,168 | 6,237 | 4,262) 3,291 | 3,827 
Cashontputs oe ee ee 2,919 | 2,360| 3,690| 1,834 | 5,688 | 3,717 | 2,913 | 3, 515 
== SSS SSS - a 
Wi On bs 2s oe ree aes 957 381 | 2,376; 1,580 993 738 
NE ECS ae Se 392 883 369 717 175 
Beans 22 Seat See ee 306 i 806 | 374 206 1,319 
SuPpanbeers ss Sa es 297 | 352 | 443 192 iss 
Clover (hay and seed)________ 218 369 | 179 306 566. 
Alfalfa (hay and seed)_______- 190 | 234 | 222 ST 120 
Offer cropss.n.| ese Seed 75 | 149 | 61 152 56 
WGLVESLOCKs a= len ones ee ane 247 | 221 | 206 116 227 
Livestock products___________ 161 | 188 | 190 164 | 274 
Gihts sources. aes 76 | 60 93 30 | 40 
Noncash output_..___-___---.___- 358 | | 549 | 545 | --378 | 312 
Family-used perquisites_____-_ 341 | 309 442 378 312 
Increase in inventories_______ 17 | 0 | 240 103 0 0 
Input per farm (other than capital)-_ 2, 169 | 3,357 | 3, 469 : 2,854 | 2,574 
Cashanput=-o.- sear en ae 1, 310 | : 2,339 | 2,165 | 1,806| 1,449 
Hired labor... Ve. £8 136 | | 462| 295 : 242 117 
Contract labor--_-._.-..-.--- 7 97 | 136 140 67 
Repairs --8et. 2 ae 51 87 | 7 64 49 
Feed 'bonent——> 4. aye ees 147 | 182 | 98 66 75 
Auto for farminsen = ae 131 | 180 | 153 170 124 
Seedsbought=2- 2-2 sei =k 82 106 | 200 130 | 108 
Sacks'and: twine eae 45 | 104 109 96 | 126. 
Threshing and hulling________ 80 174 168 136 | 176 
‘Taxes 2 Sate 198 350 336 416 326. 
Irrigation water________-___-- 121 | 240 246 160 117 
Livestock bought____________ 172 268 220 85 71 
Other sources. -_ <2 == - =. | 68 | 89 126 | 101 93 
Noncash input___......-------+-- |__ 859 | 985 |_ 1,018 |- 1,304} 1,048 | 1, 125 
Decrease in inventories______- 0 0) 0 139 171 
Operators labor. 24 23 801 915 | 1,056 | 826 | 861 
Unpaid family labor________- 58 | 103 | 248 | 83 | 93 
Return to capital (output lessinput)_| 1, 108 2, 880 793 | 437 | 1,253 
Return to capital, per cent ___________ 6.0 8.3 25 | 1 5. 8 
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